Multicolor, multilayer photographic elements are well known in the art of color photography. Usually, these photographic elements have three different selectively sensitized silver halide emulsion layers coated on one side of a single support. The vehicle used for these emulsion layers is normally a hydrophilic colloid, such as gelatin. One emulsion layer is blue-sensitive, another green-sensitive and another red-sensitive. Although these layers can be arranged on a support in any order, they are most commonly arranged with the support coated in succession with the red-sensitive layer, the green-sensitive layer and the blue-sensitive layer (advantageously) with a bleachable blue-light-absorbing filter layer between the blue-sensitive layer and the green-sensitive layer) or with the opposite arrangement and no filter layer. Colored photographic images are formed from latent images in the silver halide emulsion layers during color development by the coupling of oxidized aromatic primary amine color developing agent with couplers present either in the color developer solution or incorporated in the appropriate light-sensitive layers. Color photographic elements containing dye images usually utilize a phenolic or naphtholic coupler that forms a cyan dye in the red-sensitive emulsion layer, a pyrazolone or cyanoacetyl derivative coupler that forms a magenta dye in the green-sensitive emulsion layer and an acetylamide coupler that forms a yellow dye in the blue-sensitive emulsion layer. Diffusible couplers are used in color developer solutions. Non-diffusing couplers are incorporated in photographic emulsion layers. When the dye image formed is to be used in situ, couplers are selected which form non-diffusing dyes. For image transfer color processes, couplers are used which will produce diffusible dyes capable of being mordanted or fixed in the receiving sheet.
It is well known in the photographic art to utilize a stabilizing bath as the final step in the processing of both color films and color papers. Such baths can serve to reduce stain and/or enhance dye stability. A wide variety of different stabilizing compositions have been proposed for such use. Thus, the known stabilizing baths include those containing addition products of formaldehyde and a diazine or triazine as described in Mackey et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,487,569 issued Nov. 8, 1949; aliphatic aldehydes as described in Harsh et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,686 issued Aug. 15, 1950; addition products of formaldehyde and a urea, as described in Mackey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,579,435 issued Dec. 18, 1951; tetramethylol cyclic alcohols or ketones as described in Clarke et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,607 issued May 9, 1961; glucoheptonates as described in Bard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,504 issued Nov. 17, 1964; amino acids as described in Jeffreys, U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,606 issued Dec. 13, 1966; mixtures of an aldehyde and an alkoxy-substituted polyoxyethylene compound as described in Seemann et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,896 issued Feb. 20, 1968; compounds comprising a tri(hydroxymethyl)methyl group as described in Jeffreys et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,929 issued Oct. 21, 1969; and addition complexes of an alkali metal bisulfite and an aldehyde as described in Mowrey, U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,136 issued July 11, 1972.
The formation of yellow stain in photographic color elements is believed to be related to the presence of unreacted coupler in emulsion layers and to be influenced by a number of factors such as heat, humidity, conditions to which the photographic element was subject in development, e.g., development time, temperature and replenishment rate, the contamination of developing composition, such as contamination by bleaching agents, and so forth. Dye stability is believed to also be affected by the presence of unreacted coupler in emulsion layers (since coupler and dye can react slowly with one another to degrade a color image) and to be influenced by such factors as temperature, humidity, ambient oxygen, and the spectral distribution and intensity of the light to which the dye image is subjected. Magenta dye stability is a particular problem, as the magenta dye image tends to fade much more rapidly than either the cyan dye image or the yellow dye image. Thus, the problems of stain formation and dye stability are interrelated and highly complex, and the stabilizing compositions known heretofore have typically been deficient in one or more respects as regards the overcoming of these problems.
Processes which are intended for rapid access processing of photographic color elements pose a particular difficulty with respect to the provision of an effective stabilizing bath. In order to shorten the total processing time, such processes typically do not have a wash step following the fixing or bleach-fixing step and, in consequence, the element passes directly from the fixing or bleach-fixing bath into the stabilizing bath. This results in carryover of the fixing agent, which is usually a thiosulfate, into the stabilizing bath. The result of such carryover is decomposition of the thiosulfate and precipitation of elemental sulfur in the stabilizing bath with resultant fouling of both the processing apparatus and the photographic element. This problem is commonly referred to as "sulfurization" of the stabilizing bath.
It is toward the objective of providing a novel stabilizing bath that is highly effective in reducing yellow stain formation and increasing dye stability, and which eliminates or greatly reduces the tendency for sulfurization to occur, that the present invention is directed.